Andrews, 27, the brother of Eagles right guard Shawn Andrews, said the prospect of playing alongside his brother was thrilling.

"That would be great. It'd be a great feeling. It'd be a boost for Shawn and me, (and) the organization. It's something I'm looking forward to .. It'd be great to be playing right beside my brother, dominatin' over there.

"It was something we've been talking about every since we first got to the league" in the 2004 draft, he said. Shawn went from Arkansas to the Eagles in the first round, Stacy went from Ole Miss to the Bengals in the fourth.

Stacy was franchised by the Bengals last season, but tore both his ACL and his MCL at Cleveland Dec. 21 and underwent reconstructive knee surgery Jan. 7, though there is talk that the surgery wasn't as bad as feared, that the MCL would have healed on its own. He is 6-7, 342.

"Doing great, doing great," Andrews said when asked about his knee. "I'm ahead of schedule."

He said he will be ready for the start of training camp.

"I was asleep when my agent (Rich Moran) called me," Andrews said. "It was a great wake-up call."

The acquisition of Andrews would seem to signal the end of Runyan's courageous nine-year run with the Eagles, in whch Runyan played every game, through several injuries, including a knee problem that required microfracture surgery following the past season. He became a free agent this morning.

Try the draft. We've done well there recently with Taylor, Landry and Horton.

Landry and Taylor both top 10 picks, however horton on the other hand was an excellent pick. Not that Landry and especially Taylor weren't but thats to be expected when you are taking a safety that high.

First, he was forced out of the starting lineup by the acquisition of high-profile free agent Asante Samuel last season.

Now cornerback Lito Sheppard has been forced out of Philadelphia.

The Eagles on Saturday are expected to complete a trade which will send Sheppard to the New York Jets for a package of draft picks. Sources from both clubs on Friday night confirmed the trade.

Although details of the deal were not available, the Eagles are believed to be receiving a middle-round choice in the 2010 draft and conditional 2011 draft choice. The level of the 2011 choice will be determined by a number of factors including Sheppard's 2009 playing time.

Sheppard, 27, is a two-time Pro Bowl defender. He started for much of his career, but was supplanted by Samuel in 2008.

A seven-year veteran, Sheppard played mostly in nickel and dime situations for the Eagles last year. He started three games, the lowest number of starts since his second season.

There appears to be a chance one of the greatest and most popular players in Eagles history will depart the team.

Free agent Brian Dawkins visited with the Denver Broncos yesterday, but the 35-year-old safety had not signed with the Broncos as of early today, an NFL source familiar with the negotiations said.

"It is not done," the source said.

The Oakland Raiders were apparently also interested in Dawkins, and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Dawkins had agreed to a two-year deal with the Broncos. A Broncos spokesman told The Inquirer that no announcement was scheduled. A report out of Denver, where Dawkins attended last night's Nuggets basketball game, speculated that Dawkins might resume negotiating with the Eagles.

Dawkins' agent, Jim Steiner, said Dawkins was in Denver, but he declined further comment. Dawkins could not be reached for comment. Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko would not comment.

Receiver T.J Houshmandzadeh has said that he'd like to play for the Eagles.

But, as it turns out, the Eagles might not be interested.

According to Derrick Gunn on Comcast SportsNet, the Eagles didn't react kindly to an effort by Houshmandzadeh to dupe the team into thinking that he was offering Philly a discount. After checking around, the Eagles reportedly learned that Houshmandzadeh's agent was actually asking for more money from the Eagles than from other teams.

Per Gunn, the Eagles previously had little interest in Houshmandzadeh. The alleged bait-and-swtich routine ensured that the Eagles won't make a play for him.

Meanwhile, league observers continue to believe that Houshmandzadeh won't strike it as rich as he'd prefer. As Howard Balzer of The Sports Xchange pointed out to me earlier in the day, Houshmandzadeh will be 32 later this year.

To put it bluntly, guys in their 30s rarely get rich in the early days of free agency.

According to Derrick Gunn on Comcast SportsNet, the Eagles didn't react kindly to an effort by Houshmandzadeh to dupe the team into thinking that he was offering Philly a discount. After checking around, the Eagles reportedly learned that Houshmandzadeh's agent was actually asking for more money from the Eagles than from other teams.